A World Without Bending
by author12306
Summary: After the fall of the Earth Nation Avatar Ash the next Avatar was never found. People forgot about the Avatar as benders were hunted to near extinction. People's lives are ruined and bonds are formed as a few remaining benders try to protect the city they've built. Rated for blood and violence, language is censored!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own AtLA or LoK

A/N: Hey y'all! :D Thanks a bunch for taking time to check this out. Okay, so this is a sequel to my fic Ash the Next Avatar, but for this to make sense you don't need to have read it by any means. This is just a classic next Avatar in a world where bending is outlawed story. Hope ya enjoy it ;)

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><p>Prologue&amp;Chapter 1<p>

_Prologue_

History is written by the winning side in a war. Laws are made by the winning side. Those from the losing side, in some situations, are even erased from the planet. They are left with no future or hope. That is the fate of the benders. With their Avatar useless and their numbers dwindling the benders lost. Schools teach the evils done by benders, and also enforce the laws against benders. Those born with the ability to bend are safe up until the time their bending is revealed. Upon being discovered they are hunted and executed. They are brutally murdered or left with horrible wounds to die from them, but some survive. Some escape. Those lucky few band together to save other benders. They live in cities, hidden away within nature. They are few, far apart, and only the extremely lucky ever find them before they themselves are found and disposed of.

_Chapter 1_

The cold, icy, snowy tundra was silent except for the sound of ragged breathing and crunching snow. A girl with matted, pitch-black hair and pale, wind-raw skin ran through the knee deep snow. She tripped and fell into the snow, sending cold, burning pains through her already numb face. She wore a t-shirt, soaked by sweat and melted snow, and a pair of sweat pants that were frozen stiff from the knees down. She wore no shoes, only frozen socks. She was dehydrated and hungry. Her eyes were hopeless; the amber irises only reflecting the bleak white snow that seemed to match her future. She tripped again. With forced effort she lifted herself from the ground and kept on running.

A low howl pealed through the air behind her. Eagle-wolves had been tracking her for days; so had the creatures' masters. She tripped again, but this time she heard something land in the snow just feet behind her.

_This is it, _she thought; no matter how hard she tried she couldn't draw enough air into her stinging lungs. She laid there, waiting for the creature to kill her or for a bullet to go through her head, _All the people who risked prison for me, I've failed them. I'm sorry. I failed. I don't wanna die! _Silent tears dripped down her face, leaving stinging tracks of warm against the icy cold. The muscles in her legs ached. The bottoms of her feet were bruised and bleeding from the impact of running non-stop for two weeks. Her fingers and feet were frost-bitten. She thought, for just a moment, that maybe she was just another useless body taking up oxygen and space. She laid her head back into the snow. The sky was solid grey and small snowflakes were coming down. She heard the paws of the eagle-wolf getting much closer. She heard someone call it off and heard a gun click.

A loud battle-cry broke the air as six young men, the youngest being fourteen and the oldest being twenty, lunged from a snow drift. The packed snow turned to powder as they broke from their cover. They wore ragged clothes, not suitable for the weather but better than what the girl wore. Blasts of fire, chunks of rock and ice, and a few blasts of air quickly sent the eagle-wolves fleeing.

"Look it's the coward who fled last time!" one of them called as they stopped using their fire-bending and punched their opponent in the face hard enough to earn a loud crack.

Someone broke away from the fight and approached the girl. He laid his jacket over her.

It was warm, and the girl was thankful that she had it now. She looked up at the young man who had given it to her. He had brown hair and soft green eyes. His skin was pale but his cheeks were bright red from the cold wind. Some stubble covered his chin as if he hadn't shaved for a few days. His featured were soft, giving him a slightly more feminine face. He crouched beside her.

"Do you have a name?" he asked her softly.

"Jen," she answered.

"Don't worry Jen, soon you'll be somewhere with food, water, and a warm roof over your head," he smiled, "My name is Mu."

"Thank you," Jen smiled weakly back.

Mu turned back to the fight. He stayed close enough to protect her if needed.

Soon the "catchers" had retreated.

"Rusty, Rosy, one of you go ahead and warn Reiki we're bringing in a real sick bender," Mu commanded.

A boy with neatly cut black hair that swooped over one of his eyebrows nodded. A tattered red scarf hung around his neck, "What should I tell him is wrong?"

"Venom. They used venom coated darts on her. Tell him to be ready for that. Frostbite and hypothermia too. Severe dehydration as well," Mu said.

The boy, Rusty, took a moment to commit the list to memory before nodding and dashing off.

Another boy who looked similar to Rusty approached Mu, "There's gonna be a bad blizzard. We need to find shelter soon."

"Rosy, we can't. This girl's gonna die if we don't hurry and get her back to the city. See the cuts on her arms," he paused to roll up the sleeve of his jacket on her arm, "those cuts, the way the skin around them is that gross, and they haven't stopped bleeding even though this one looks like it's days old. Those are definite signs they used venom coated weapons. She's also hypothermic. If we want her to live, then we need to get back before nightfall; blizzard or no."

The youngest of their small group scampered over through the snow, holding a thick snow coat he had retrieved from the unconscious body of a "catcher".

"Nice job, Cais. I'm sure we'll need that soon with all our new benders," Mu chuckled at the young boy as he picked Jen up. At sometime before that moment she had passed out.

Cais smiled at the praise. He had always been a bit of a teacher's pet to the older members of the rescue team.

"Wow, this girl's light," Mu's eye-brows disappeared under his messily cut hair.

"She's been on the run for two weeks, I doubt she's been eating healthily," another member of the group stated, looking at the slow, unsteady way Jen's chest rose and fell. She was shivering so hard it made it hard to tell if she was breathing correctly. "She looks like Anise."

Mu frowned at the last statement the boy made.

"Sorry!" the boy noticed the expression on his leader's face.

Mu shook his head slightly, "It's fine. I guess she does kind of look like Anise. Just take away the glasses and they could be identical twins."

"Even the jacket, huh?" the boy who had first stated the similarities frowned slightly.

"Do you thee want to go ahead," Mu motioned to him and two others in the group. This left him, Rosy, Cais, and another behind.

"Oh, sure. Any particular reason?" one of them asked.

"I don't want you all getting caught in the blizzard because of me," he smiled. They all knew he would never risk the lives of his team, but he would also keep a few with him just to be on the safe side. Not even he would nobly leave himself open to death.

"Thanks, man. We'll meet up with you back home. Which means don't freeze, deal?" one smirked. The way he walked portrayed sure confidence and smugness.

"Sure, bud," Mu smirked back and waved.

"If she lives, she'll be the first girl back home for two years," Cais murmured with wide eyes.

"Yeah, since Anise and your sister," Mu nodded with a small smile.

"The rest of the guy's will be swarming all over the poor girl," Rosy shook his head with a small chuckle.

"We still have the laws. They know harassing people, no matter what, is illegal. I don't think many of them will risk it," Mu chuckled.

"She's beautiful, I'll give her that," the fourth guy of the group, named Nobuhide, chuckled.

"I can't wait to get back home and go inside! It's freezing out here," Mu shivered. He had given his jacket up to Jen, and therefore had only a t-shirt and tattered jeans to protect him from the wind.

"Then lets hurry. Don't want you getting sick again," Rosy smirked and turned in the direction the others had already left in. Their pace was fairly quick in the deep snow; they seemed to have been traveling over similar conditions for some time to adapt so well.

The small group continued walking. Soon, as predicted, snow began falling in nearly horizontal sheets. The wind whipped it and it blocked their view.

"We're almost there. I can see the mountain," Mu urged as he bent forward to try and protect Jen from the snow.

"You can see anything in this?" Nobuhide asked disbelievingly.

"Yes I can," Mu answered. Sure enough they reached the wall soon.

Nobuhide took a wide-legged stance and slid his foot across the ground. A thick slab of rock slid to the side. A heavy, thick, metal door stood behind the rock.

Rosy knocked on the door rhythmically.

Someone from the other side opened it. Rusty grinned at them, "Welcome back y'all."

The small group entered and another boy waiting by the door closed the stone and then the door.

"Reiki's already ready to take care of her. Nick wants to know as soon as she's well enough to speak with him," Rusty reported.

"Alright. He probably wants to see if she's fitting to go to the power plants," Mu nodded, his expression darkening.

"He wouldn't! Do you think he would?" Rusty looked just as worried.

"I think he would. We need more earth-benders down there and if she's as weak as the files show he won't hesitate to send her down there. He also thinks it's too crowded up here as is," Mu sighed as he glanced at the unconscious girl in his arms.

"I miss the days before the power plant. When everyone lived up here and took shifts down there," Rusty gazed sadly at the floor.

They had reached a building built into the stone wall. It had four steps leading up to double doors. Mu ascended the stairs in two long strides and shouldered the door open.

"Welcome back, I hear you've got a new patient for me," Reiki, a tall, extremely handsome healer smiled. He was a very talented water-bender, and had spent the earliest years of his life learning from the healer Ann. He loved getting new patients to care for.

"Yeah. She's in pretty bad shape, but I trust you can help her," Mu nodded as he carefully laid Jen down into one of the prepared hospital beds. The hospital was a single-story, rectangle-shaped building with walls lined with beds. The beds had mismatched, patchy sheets but they were clean and all of the mattresses were the softest in the entire city. The hospital was also one of the few clean areas of the city.

Jen shifted slightly, her eyes opened into thin slits before closing again once she had settled.

"You should go take a shower and eat something, sweetie. You've been outside for three weeks," Reiki smiled at Mu.

Mu chuckled, "Sure thing. I can't wait to get some coffee!"

Reiki set right to work inspecting the severity of Jen's condition. He quickly noticed that she had frostbite. Her fingertips were purple and swollen, as were her toes. From her toes to her ankles the skin was raw and red from being covered in icy fabric. He carefully took the jacket off of her. His expression darkened slightly as he looked at the series of random cuts that covered her arms and tore her sleeves. All of them had an unhealthy, infected look to them. Some still trickled blood, and some looked as if the skin were dying around them. This was one of the worst outcomes he'd ever seen from the venom coated weapons the "catchers" used. He pinched up the skin on the back of Jen's wrist. It fell slowly. She was dehydrated.

Reiki whistled in amazement, "I'm surprised you survived this long. Welcome to the family." He spoke quietly as he set up an IV. Deep down he doubted she would wake up. The thought of losing another patient before he even got to know them scared him, but not as much as the thought of losing a patient he did know. He tried to heal Jen's frostbitten hands but made little progress with the digits. He only managed to heal the skin enough that it would heal on its own. He did the same with her toes and feet before cleaning her arms. As he carefully changed her out of her damp clothes and into a new, dry, oversized t-shirt he saw another injury that alarmed him. An arrow was lodged in her shoulder blade with most of the shaft of the arrow broken off. The injury looked infected and skin was already growing back in around the head of the arrow. Reiki set to work removing the projectile and cleaning the wound thoroughly. He healed it. "Maybe I'm so afraid to lose you because you look so familiar," he sat down in a chair pulled up beside her bed. He examined the jacket she had been wearing. It was Mu's jacket. _He was really concerned about this girl to let her borrow that, _Reiki thought as he picked it up and examined the roughly sewn hole over the left-hand breast of the jacket. A permanent, coppery stain surrounded the small area of mismatching thread. Both the copper stain and the black thread stood out against the light grey fabric.

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><p>Mu looked around at the buildings around him. He was one of the ten creators of the city, and it was his pride. The tall cave ceiling was lit by an odd mineral found to glow. The jagged walls were spotted with windows and doors cut out of the rock as well as entryways into staircases. Buildings of stone and odd scraps of card-board, wood, brick, plaster, stone, and other obscure materials were built into a circle like shape with the shortest buildings leading in until it reached one large building in the center. It towered over the rest and nearly reached the glowing ceiling. In the dark corners of the large cave there were barely visible ladders leading into the ground. At the end of the city farthest from the entrance tunnel there was a large doorway cut into the wall and light spilled out of it brighter than anywhere else. The entrance tunnel and the small area of land before it were about fifteen feet higher than the floor of most of the city, but a wide case of stairs led to the floor. Above bridges crisscrossed from wall to wall. A few buildings jutted from the walls, they were flat topped and rectangular. They were short and plain stone with nothing but swinging doors. These two buildings were the infirmary and the cafeteria. He pushed open a light door and entered the empty room. Tables filled it as did the smell of food but no one inhabited the room. He walked back towards an open hallway leading back to the kitchen. He walked through the hallway, which was filled with drying herbs hanging from the walls, and entered the kitchen. It was a fairly large, open room with a floor that slanted slightly. Counters, two refrigerators, three stoves, and a sink lined the walls.<p>

"I thought this was already established, no one in the kitchen unless it's your job to be here," the cook began to scold before he glanced up, "Mu! You're back!"

"Hey Thyme, I just came to make myself some coffee. Can't really have a stove at my place with TNT around the place," Mu smiled tiredly as he walked to a coffee maker sitting beside one of the fridges.

"Of course. We can't have him around any fire," Thyme chuckled, remembering how many times people rooming with the fire-bender TNT had come to the cafeteria to make coffee or other simple foods that people were aloud to make within their own housing. None of the buildings had kitchens, but most did have stoves and sinks to be used for making very simple, quick things and coffee, "I know it might be the wrong time to ask, but how did the rescue go?"

"Surprisingly well. She at least made it to the city alive. Can't guarantee she'll be that way for long though," Mu answered as he dug around in a drawer for the right coffee single-cup grounds. He found one of the foil-topped plastic cups and pulled a mug from an over-head cabinet. He made himself a cup of coffee.

"That's better than the past few weeks, at least," Thyme sighed. It had been bad for nearly five months. Rescue teams had returned unsuccessful or missing members. It was a nice change to have everyone come back with one more person.

"Yeah. Ugh, I have to go report to Nick after I get a shower. I just want to sleep," Mu muttered bitterly as he leaned against the counter and finished his coffee.

"Couldn't you ask Rusty or Rosy to do it? They're in your apartment too," Thyme suggested.

"They're probably already fast asleep though. I'll just get it over with and then go to sleep. Maybe I can ask Nobuhide to do it," Mu suddenly pondered the thought. With little more thought he pulled out his cellphone and texted Nobuhide to report on the rescue to Nick. The city had its own cellphone service and internet servers.

"That solves one of your problems, now you just have to get home and take a shower without falling asleep," Thyme laughed.

"I just have to get past TNT and the others without getting pulled into a conversation," Mu said as he put the mug in the sink and walked towards the hallway.

"See you later, Mu," Thyme waved. He returned to cleaning the counter, with the thought of: _Did I already clean this spot?_

Mu strode out of the cafeteria and walked down the street between some of the shortest buildings. He reached a building made of brick and opened the door, which was unfortunately made of cardboard.

"Mu!" he was greeted by the weight of someone hugging him.

"Hey, TNT. That kinda hurts, think you could stop trying to crush my ribs?" Mu grunted as he tried to break TNT's death-like hug.

"I missed you all! I was stuck all alone here!" TNT whined. His hair was messy, and when he moved too swiftly it would shed soot into the air. His eyes were bright amber, so close to red it made him look nearly demonic.

"Then you can hang out with Nobuhide when he gets back," Mu finally managed to remove TNT's arms from around his chest. He walked past the fire-bender and down the hall. Most of the apartments had a main room, two stories with two to four rooms each, and a bathroom located somewhere. Mu walked to a door at the edge of the tiny living room. It was the bathroom. There was a sink, a toilet, and a shower with a frosted plastic door. It was about three feet by two feet and offered barely enough room to move around. He left his clothes in a neatly folded pile on the counter and showered quickly, not wanting to waste heated water. After he'd washed two weeks worth of dirt from his hair and skin he turned off the water and dried off with a stiff, air-dried towel that seemed not to have been washed in a good long while. He didn't bother to put his shirt on and just left it on the floor piled with other dirty clothes. He left the bathroom and walked into the living room. He opened one door to reveal a spiraling staircase. He walked up it past one floor and got to the third floor of the apartment. This floor had two rooms. His room and Cais's room. He opened the door on the left of the small hallways. The room was small. It had enough floor space between the two walls adjacent to the door for Mu to lay down, and between the door and the bed there was about five feet of space. On either side of the small bed was about two feet. He collapsed onto the squeaky bed and pulled the oddly fluffy blanket up to his chin. It didn't take longer than three minutes for him to fall asleep.

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><p>Reiki checked Jen multiple times for the signs of the different types of venom that coated many of the weapons. Some were taken from snakes and were known for thinning blood, others for clotting it. Some taken from spiderions* were known for causing the skin around the wound to rot and die. Some were from other odd arrays of creatures that attacked the nervous system, causing anything from seizures to complete failure of organs. Reiki had seen almost every type of venom they used and had stored antivenom for almost every one. He knew that Jen had been affected by one that thinned blood and one that caused the skin to rot. He opened a cabinet and opened a safe with a refrigerated inside. He retrieved two vials of clear liquid and measured them out, injecting them into the IV bag. There wasn't anything else he could do for Jen except hope she woke up. He walked over to a small cot on the floor in the corner of the large building. He lived in the building and hardly left, only to get food and tend to those in the city too injured to be transported to the infirmary. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept; people kept coming in with injuries in need of healing and drew him from his sleep. He still remembered being half asleep when the doors swung open so hard that they slammed into the walls. Rusty had been telling him about the next case he was going to get. He pushed the thought from his mind and rolled to face the wall. His eyes closed heavily and he finally got the ever needed sleep he had lacked recently.<p>

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><p>Nobuhide entered the tallest building in the center of the city.<p>

"Hey, when did you guys get back?" a young man, of about twenty, sitting behind a desk asked gleefully.

"About an hour. Nick in his office?" Nobuhide let the door to the building swing shut behind him.

"When isn't he? Just go on up if you need to talk to him," the man grinned.

"Alright. I guess I'll see you at the house later?" Nobuhide asked.

"Yeah. I get off in ten minutes and I plan to go home and sleep. I don't even care about getting a shower or anything," he yawned.

Nobuhide chuckled and walked through the door next to the desk that led to a staircase. It went up many flights and took about five minutes to climb. When Nobuhide reached the top he was surprised to find the door unguarded. That was odd, normally there was a single guard. He opened the door.

Nick, the current leader of the city, was fast asleep at his desk. He could only have been about twenty-five, but shaggy hair made him look a few years older and more overworked.

Nobuhide walked over and kicked the legs of Nick's chair out, sending him to the ground.

Nick jolted up, eyes wide at the sudden awakening, "Oh, you're back?"

"Yeah, I came to report," Nobuhide nodded as he picked the chair up and sat down. Nick glared at him slightly but pulled up another chair from near the wall and sat down. "We may very well have a new bender. She was pretty banged up when we got her here but I think she'll be fine soon. She survived two weeks on the run. From the time we spent tailing her she doesn't have very much skill. I'd suggest she go to the lower levels, honestly she'd be best in the power plants and water cleaning facilities with how little ability she has."

"You know you don't make those decisions, Nobuhide. Did you get any recordings of her fighting?" Nick asked. At some point during the conversation he had swung one leg up to rest with the ankle on his opposite knee. His elbows rested on the calf of his supported leg and his interlocked fingers supported his chin.

"Regrettably, no. You'll have to wait until she's recovered to evaluate her skill," Nobuhide sighed.

"That's quiet alright. It'll give me time to think on if we need anyone else in the plants," Nick smiled calmly.

"She looks exactly like Anise," Nobuhide added absently; his eyes were sad and his mouth was a straight line of uncertainty.

Nick froze, glaring slightly at Nobuhide for mentioning the name, "Does she, now?"

"Exactly like her, only she's got glasses. They could be twins," Nobuhide answered.

"Did this seem to bother Mu at all?" Nick asked curiously.

"A little. Cais mentioned it like he hoped it might be her. I think that's really what bothered poor Mu," Nobuhide answered.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he hated her. By the way, does the girl have a name?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, all we managed to get from her before she passed out was that she's named Jen," Nobuhide answered.

"Good. That's all I need for now, you're free to go do whatever," Nick waved him off and quickly stole back the comfy chair the younger boy had stolen.

Nobuhide waved as he left and scampered down the stairs. He headed straight for the cafeteria.

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><p>Reiki was more than a little startled, after three days of quiet, when Jen suddenly woke up. She was frightened, and resembled a wild animal with her matted hair and scared eyes, "Where am I?"<p>

"Welcome to the City of Benders in the Mountain. You're safe here, Jen, I promise," Reiki smiled. He had grown used to having very one-sided conversations with her over the past three days. To make it more convincing he threw in a warm smile and slight incline of his upper body like a small, respectful bow.

"How'd you know my name?" she asked.

"You told my friend after he rescued you, just before you collapsed from injury and exhaustion," Reiki assured.

Memories rushed back to Jen and allowed her shoulders to relax slightly. This man in front of her wasn't a threat, she assured herself. Her fingers and toes stung unbearably, she noticed. Her throat was dry and her arms also stung. She looked down at one arm and saw an IV catheter in her arm, "What is your name?"

"I'm Reiki," he smiled and slowly approached. He sat in the chair beside her bed.

"Reiki. That's a nice name," she said quietly.

"I haven't had a chance to say this while you were conscious, but welcome to the family Jen," he offered his hand to shake.

"I miss _my _family," Jen stated almost blankly.

"I know. Most of us do at first. Do you wanna talk about it?" Reiki offered. As well as helping physical injuries he was often the one to listen when others had emotional problems.

"I'm glad I lived, I didn't put them in danger for nothing. Their help didn't go unused," Jen murmured.

"They would never say it was for nothing, Jen," Reiki smiled, "Even had you died and they had learned of it they would still be glad to know you had lived two more weeks."

"R-really?" Jen asked quietly.

"I guarantee it. And I know it's of little help, but I know that they'd be very happy if they knew you were alive. I know we're also very happy you're alive," Reiki said.

Jen's stomach growled rather loudly.

"I bet you are hungry. You haven't had a proper meal in quiet awhile. I'll be right back with some food for you," Reiki stood up and walked towards the doors, "Also, stay here. Please don't go wandering off and make us look for you."

Jen nodded. She looked down at her hands. Her fingers were swollen and a black-purple color. She tried to make a fist with either hand but couldn't move the muscles in her arms and hands very much.

The doors to the infirmary swung open and Mu walked in. His brown hair looked like it had been cut a tiny bit with a centimeter less of it hanging over his forehead, "I see you're awake, Jen."

Jen shrunk in on herself. She couldn't help being afraid; for the last two weeks almost every human she'd come across had harmed her.

"It's alright Jen. I promise I won't hurt you. My name is Mu. Do you know where you are?" Mu spoke calmly.

"Reiki said I was in the City of Benders in the Mountain," Jen answered.

"That's right. Welcome to our city. Hopefully you like it here," Mu smiled, "Do you happen to know where Reiki went?"

"He went to get me some food," Jen answered.

"Then he shouldn't be gone too long," Mu said, mostly to himself. He sat down on the foot of the bed closest to the doors and rubbed his side as if it hurt. He seemed far better rested than when he arrived in the city with Jen.

"How long have I been here?" Jen asked quietly.

"Three days so far. We were getting pretty worried about you but you pulled through. You seem like you'd be strong enough for the rescue team," Mu grinned.

"Rescue team?" Jen blinked.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that it's only something we have in the city! We have three options someone can pick when they're brought to the city. The first and most common is the job of Store owner or Restaurant owner. The second and second most common is the rescue team. The last and least popular is the destruction and construction group. The Shop owners and Restaurant owners usually stay in the city for months on end but will leave in swarms to go find goods to sell and food to cook. The rescue team has multiple small groups that go out whenever we find reports of wanted benders; we'll rescue them and bring them here. The destruction and construction group is in charge of destroying old buildings and clearing more room for the city and building the buildings. They stay in the city full time," Mu answered.

"What are you part of?" Jen asked.

"I'm part of the rescue team. I'm the leader of one of the groups. Actually, the group that brought you here," Mu smiled.

"I think I remember you. Did you give me your coat?" Jen asked, eyeing the coat that still sat with her old clothes. Wait, her old clothes. She was wearing different clothes. Someone had changed her clothes while she was unconscious. She blinked at the thought and momentarily wondered if it had been Reiki.

"I did. I'm glad you're alive, Jen. My team's been having awful luck recently with bringing people in alive," Mu chuckled humorlessly.

"Maybe I'm just a little luck charm. My coaches at school always said that, maybe it's more true than I thought," she said, trying to ignore his broken tone of voice.

The doors opened as Reiki walked in. He was carrying a steaming bowl and had a bottle of water balanced between his side and arm, "Do you think you can hold the bowl on your own?"

"I don't think so. My arms and hands feel really weak," Jen shook her head.

"At least you're not too prideful to admit it," Reiki chuckled, "Think you could hold the spoon?"

"I doubt it," Jen frowned.

"At least you didn't try and end up burning yourself, like some people when they get hurt," Reiki glanced at Mu.

Mu frowned at him.

"Open wide," Reiki had filled the spoon with rice and broth from the bowl.

Jen shoved her pride aside and let herself be fed like a child. She was just glad she didn't have to move around too much. Her body was exhausted. After she had eaten her fill, only about half of the bowl, she curled up under the blanket and dozed off while Reiki and Mu talked.

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><p>AN: Thank you a bunch for reading! Reviews are much appreciated but not required. Favorites and follows are deeply appreciated as well :D Can't wait to read what y'all think about it so far! Also, I'd appreciate if you could tell me through PM or review if you'd prefer really long chapters likes this and slow updates, or average length chapters and normal speed updates.

*=mix of a spider and a scorpion


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own AtLA or LoK

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Mu walked up the stairs to Nick's office. Nick wanted to discuss with him what he had already discussed with Nobuhide concerning Jen.

"Hey Mu, come in and sit down," Nick greeted warmly.

"So what did you two decide so far?" Mu asked suspiciously.

Nick's mood seemed to drop and his face grew oddly serious, "Mu, I know you never want to send anyone under to the power plants, but sometimes that's just the best for the city."

"No! You keep saying that, but we're betraying these people! What was wrong with the old system?!" Mu stood so quickly it knocked his chair back. It clattered noisily to the ground, "We promise them a safe shelter, a _family! _And what do we do? We throw them in a dangerous hole in the ground with no health care or sanitation. No clean water or good food! We give them scraps! We surround them with others who were promised the same and deprived! Most of the people down there are practically dead while they work! Have you gone down there? Seen their eyes?! Heard them speak?! No you haven't! Stop saying it's best for the city because it's _not!_"

"Mu, sit down," Nick's jaw was set and his eyes held a fire of anger that hadn't been there a moment before.

Mu seethed as he picked his chair up and sat down. He took deep calming breaths and tried to calm his erratic heart beat.

"The old method was inconvenient. We've been over this. We aren't betraying them. They are out of the elements. They have each other as a family. They can clean their own water and we do allow them trips up for food. They get everything they are promised upon arrival," Nick stated calmly. Mu knew better than to cross him now. He was like a dam about to break, the slightest disruption and he could easily lose his temper and attack the younger earth-bender.

"I won't let you send her down there. She looks too much like Anise. She's amazingly skilled, too. She could hold off the eagle-wolves they sent after her fine until she was nearly dead from starvation. I assure you it would benefit the city to keep her above," Mu copied Nick's dangerously calm voice.

"We'll just have to wait and see. As soon as she is well enough I'll test her skill myself. Does that sound fair?" Nick asked quietly.

"Fair enough I guess. Give me three days after she's released to help her get better control of her bending, please," Mu bowed his head in pleading.

"Sure, I've already made enough exceptions for this girl I can spare her one more," Nick smiled coldly.

"I'll go ask Reiki when she'll be safe to be released," Mu stood and walked towards the door.

"And no cheating, Mu. I realize she looks like Anise but we can't treat any bender better than another," Nick said quietly, warningly.

Mu stayed silent until he was well out of the building. He reached one of the corners where a ladder sat; it led into the ground. He slid down the ladder, barely wrapping his hands around either side. Soon his feet hit the ground with a solid thump and he walked deeper into the dimly lit, low-roofed space. This was a series of caves lit evenly by lamps with sounds of fighting echoing from the branching off tunnels. He walked further until he reached a nearly silent part of the caves. Earth bent into the relative shapes of humans with weak spots for the human body marked stood in rows. Mu threw a punch at one of the stone targets with a roar of anger.

"Treat everyone equally! Yeah right! We hardly treat anyone equal to those on the surface here!" Mu shouted as he punched a hole clean through the rock with the help of his bending. He kicked at the head of the stone, and with the help of his bending sent it flying clean across the small cave. He shouted and screamed and cursed as he beat the stone targets. Soon they all lay in pieces. He exhaled and closed his eyes. This was an odd habit of his, whenever he was angry or upset he would often come to destroy the targets and only then let himself get ahold of himself. He returned to the ladder and climbed up quickly. He walked to the infirmary and pulled open the door.

"Hey Mu. What'd old Nicky have to say?" Reiki asked from by the back cabinet where he was organizing stuff.

"I need to talk to you, Reiki," Mu said, motioning for the healer to follow him outside.

"Sure thing," Reiki nodded and walked to the door with Mu.

"When will you be able to release Jen?" Mu asked once the door had swung shut behind them.

"Uh, it may be about two days. Why? What'd Nick say?" Reiki asked.

"Will she be completely healed by then? I need her to be in perfect health. She can't be distracted by anything. She can't be distracted by pain or injury or exhaustion. Is two days still the time?" Mu asked urgently.

"Yeah, she should be fine by then. I plan to keep her on pain killers for awhile for some of her more severe joint injuries that I can't heal right now but she should be perfect by then. Now tell me what Nick said," Reiki answered, growing uncharacteristically serious by the end of his answer.

"He wants her in the power plant. He's giving me three days after she's released to help her get her bending under control but then he'll be testing her to see if she's worthy of staying up here," Mu said. He leaned against the wall as if his knees had gone weak.

"I'm so sorry, Mu," Reiki put a comforting hand on the other's shoulder. When Nick tested someone to let them stay above he frequently cheated their skills and found ways to make them fail. Very few people ever really passed the test to stay above.

"Should I tell her? Or should I just let her heal and train without knowing the risk?" Mu asked. At times like these he felt truly helpless. So many of his friends were older than him but so few ever answered his questions with a serious intention to help.

"I think you shouldn't tell her what all is at risk but stress it is a serious situation," Reiki offered.

"Sometimes I don't know if this city is a paradise or not anymore," Mu cradled his head in one hand and laughed hopelessly.

"It will get better soon, Mu, I promise," Reiki assured.

Mu shook his head, "How can you be so sure? How do you know Nick will get over Anise's death anytime soon? What about Ayaka's? They were engaged, he lost his love and the girl who was practically his little sister in the same day, how are you so sure that he'll get over it and return the city to how it was before anytime soon? Exactly, we're not sure of it at all!"

"I don't mean he'll get better. I mean he'll relinquish his control of the city soon. I've been talking to him and he's losing his grip. He knows it. Give him a month or two and he'll give up his control to you or one of the other people who've been here awhile," Reiki spoke quietly.

"Imagine that, me running the city. We'd be wiped out faster than I could blink," Mu seemed to be simply speaking aloud at the moment.

"Maybe he'll choose TNT, or maybe even Nobuhide," Reiki reminded.

"I wouldn't mind seeing TNT take over someday," Mu almost smiled at the thought.

"Now that, my friend, could be a disaster," Reiki shook his head and turned back towards the infirmary doors, "You better tell Jen the plan for when she gets out of here."

"I know," Mu followed him inside the infirmary.

Jen was reading a book Reiki had loaned her and seemed fairly absorbed in it.

"Jen, I need to talk to you about when you get out of the infirmary," Mu began.

Jen put the book down and looked up at him.

"Three days after you're released from here you're going to be tested. This test will determine something _very _important that will affect the rest of your life. You need to pass this test, do you understand?" Mu spoke seriously.

"Okay. What type of test is it?" Jen asked.

"It's a test to see what you can do with your bending," Mu answered, "It'll determine where in the city you're allowed to live."

"Oh, I see. Will it be a hard test?" Jen asked.

"Hopefully not after three days of hard training," Mu smiled at her, "I'll make sure you can pass."

"And if I don't, what will happen?" Jen asked.

Mu didn't want to answer. He was anything but proud of the power plants, "You'll be sent to the lowest, most dangerous levels of the city to work their until you die of starvation or accident."

"Not everyone down there dies young, Mu. It's not as awful as he's making it seem, but do try to avoid failing the test," Reiki glared at the other young man, "It's very bad down there, just not that bad. You want to be up here with us."

"But what if I just can't pass?" Jen asked quietly. She had hardly spoken above a whisper since waking up.

"We'll figure something out then. Just focus on recovering for now," Mu had walked over and ruffled her hair.

"How long will it be until I'm released from here?" Jen asked.

"About two or three days. Does that sound good?" Reiki asked.

Jen nodded.

"I'm glad you're alive, Jen. It'll be nice to have a new member here," Mu smiled.

Jen blushed, "You're one of the first people to say you're glad I'm alive. Aside from my family no one's ever said something like that."

Mu looked genuinely surprised, "Weren't you a star athlete and student at your school? Wouldn't people always be admiring you?"

"No. Try to get me to do their homework, yes. Actually try to get along with me, not a chance," Jen smiled slightly. She's spent years in that position with the people around her and saw it as a big, awful joke by then, "And I think your file might have been off about the athlete thing. I didn't do school sports."

"Well, that happens a lot. Once the brilliant person read the report wrong and sent us to the opposite side of the country than where we needed to go," Mu rolled his eyes in memory of that. It had actually been when they had been rescuing Nobuhide. They were lucky he had had help escaping and hadn't needed immediate help.

"That's alarming," Jen chuckled.

"Don't forget the time they gave both groups the same file instead of the two different files," Reiki reminded.

"Good thing it was for two people traveling together," Mu laughed.

"You all have a weird sense of humor," Jen studied them curiously.

"Give it two weeks, you will too Jenny," Mu grinned.

"Hey! Don't call me that," Jen frowned.

"Get used to it, hun, he calls everyone by nicknames," Reiki snickered behind his hand, "Except me and TNT, that is."

"Who's TNT?" Jen asked.

Mu cradled his forehead in his hand at that question, "My crazy, weird, clingy, pyro roommate."

"Pyro?" Jen was growing more concerned with these people by the second.

"He's the reason my apartment doesn't have a stove anymore. And the reason I've reinforced my own room with steel," Mu groaned at the memory of his hyper "friend".

"Anymore? What happened to the stove?" Jen blinked.

"He decided he wanted to see if he could destroy a stove with one spark. That's also why he's missing half an eyebrow," Mu sighed.

"I'm just gonna go back to reading now," Jen nodded as she opened the book back up.

Mu chuckled quietly before he left her with a reminder of, "Be ready to work hard once you're released."

* * *

><p>Jen uncertainly copied Mu's stance. Without warning Mu kicked her ankle and she fell. "You need to stand steadier than that! Earth is the element of stubbornness!" he barked.<p>

Jen stood again and copied his stance. Her legs trembled from trying to keep her balanced.

"See, doesn't that feel a little more natural?" Mu asked with a voice that was almost sweet.

"I don't know! I feel like I'm about to fall over," Jen growled. This same conversation had been going on a looped route for the past hour. She had really only been released from the infirmary an hour ago as well.

Mu frowned at her as he studied her stance, "You look steady enough this time. How about we see if you can get the basics of bending down. Normally we'd take a week or two for you to work on your stance, then start working on your bending, but there isn't really an option here. Now, just try sliding your left leg forward. Focus on the rocks below your feet. See if you can move the ground at all. Maybe try to raise or lower a portion of it."

Jen frowned at the ground; her eyebrows were drawn together in a focused expression as she tried to slide her left leg forward and keep her foot facing in front of her. The ground in front of her shifted slightly. It raised maybe one centimeter but the floor was no longer flat.

"Well, good job. I didn't expect you to get it on the first try," Mu praised.

"Can I stand up now? My leg is cramping really bad," Jen fidgeted slightly.

"Sure," Mu shrugged.

Jen stood up and pressed her weight into her cramping leg until the sharp twinges of pain left only a dull ache behind.

"Now, do it again," Mu commanded.

"If I got it right why do I have to do it again?" Jen growled.

"Do you want to pass that stupid test?! I think I preferred you when you hardly spoke at all," Mu glared.

Jen glared at him indignantly as she took that stance again. She was a little more steady this time. She slid her leg forward and kept her foot facing forward. The ground raised slightly quicker. It also raised higher.

"Better, now try again," Mu commanded. He was leaning against the wall a few feet away with his arms crossed.

Jen frowned as she took up the stance again. She slid her leg forward again. There were even more impressive results, _again_.

"Now, try with the other leg," Mu commanded.

Training continued like that for a few hours, and by the time the third day was up Jen was ready for the test.

"Now just remember, Jenny, focus on even the smallest amounts of earth within the rock for your test," Mu advised as Jen stood in front of the oddly colored stone on the ground in front of her.

"If you can move that in under a minute, you pass," Nick stated simply.

Jen blinked at the rock. She took her stance and slid her foot towards the rock. Something felt off about it and it didn't move. She thought about Mu's last second advice. She exhaled and closed her eyes, sliding her foot toward the rock.

"You did it! Good job, Jenny," a hand clapped her on the back in a congratulatory fashion.

She blinked open her eyes, "I did?"

The rock in front of her sat, pulled and distorted out of shape into an odd splattered shape.

"Good job. You have some potential as a metal bender," Nick looked unamused. He never liked when his authority was crossed, even fairly as in this case.

"I'm gonna show her around the city, you're free to join us, teacher," tension practically crackled in the air between the two.

"I'm going back to my office, student," Nick spoke with such venom in his voice that it made Mu's heart ache. He missed the days when they would jokingly fight and insult.

Mu glared after the older bender as he left.

"Uhm, what was that about?" Jen asked quietly.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Mu answered as he turned and walked away, "Ready to go see the rest of the city?"

"Sure," Jen nodded. She had been truly impressed the first time she had seen the city.

"Would you rather see the main level, the shopping level, or this, the training level, first?" Mu asked, his mood taking a quick change to pride.

"Since we're here, the training level," Jen smiled.

* * *

><p>AN: Imma go ahead and leave that there :) Thanks so much for reading! :D I would really love to know what you all think, and I'd love to hear from y'all.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK.

* * *

><p>Chapter 3<p>

Mu smiled like a proud father as he went on and on about the various tunnels of the training center, "The most important part of the city is this way."

Jen followed him down a sloping tunnel to a wide cave. A heavy, metal trapdoor sat on the floor of the cave, "What is it?"

"This is the entrance to the emergency shelter. If there's ever the threat of catchers getting in then we bring everyone here and wait for the threat to pass," Mu answered, "I want you to memorize the route here as soon as you can."

"Is the entire city this impressive?" Jen asked as she studied the seemingly seamless door. It looked as if it were just a bit of metal paneling unless it was inspected closely.

"That's about all of the training level you need to know for now. Do you wanna go check out the upper levels?" Mu questioned as he led her to the ladder that led from the top levels to here.

"Oh, sure. You said the city level and the shopping level, right?" Jen asked.

"Yes! Good memory. We'll be looking at the city and the upper shopping. Then the lower shopping level," Mu praised as he began climbing the ladder.

"There are two shopping levels?" Jen tipped her head to the side slightly as she climbed up the ladder beneath him.

"Yeah, we have so many restaurants and stores that we needed more space for the shops, and for their owners to live there too. Most of the stores are owned by two or three people and open twenty-four hours. We don't really have day or night here, so it would be hard for shops to have set hours. In fact, there's only one clock in the city that's 'correct' time," Mu answered. They had reached the top of the ladder. Mu pulled himself from the ladder's tunnel onto the even ground and helped Jen up. He began walking towards the circular set-up of shabby buildings. Jen had only briefly passed through the area, "This is where most of the demolition and rescue team members live. A few live in the shop areas with close friends or boyfriends, but the rest live up here. As you can see we'll build with just about anything. A good deal of these buildings are made with the first level being earth-bent stone and the second plaster, brick, wood, or other bits of junk we can find. You see those bridges up there," Mu paused for her to look up and nod, "There are also houses built into the walls up there. There are stair-cases that lead up there and they travel by bridge. You'll be living in the women's apartment, but we'll have to clean it first so you're welcome to stay at my apartment or in the infirmary until then. Those are over there, that door at the top of the stairs that lead from the tunnel into the city. Those apartments are a little bit quiet and very nice. They were the second building we built when we built the city. That tall building in the center is the offices where Nick and a few of the other initial creators of the city work and plan. We also have a few from the rescue team working there. Over there is a danger sign, do you see it?" he paused again, "Never, NEVER, go near that door. That leads down to the power plants and the workers down there aren't generally fond of us. I also never want you to go down there without someone going with you and permission from Nick, myself, Rusty, Rosy, or Cais."

"Yes sir," Jen nodded.

"Good. Now are you ready to go look at the shopping levels?" Mu grinned.

"Alright," Jen nodded.

"You're just going to love them," Mu grinned, "That reminds me, we need to get you some new clothes. Those are pretty torn up."

"Oh, I need to return your coat," Jen said sheepishly.

"Keep it, I've got another," Mu shook his head. _I just want those memories to go away. I want to stop missing her, but life just wants me to remember I guess._

"Are you sure?" Jen asked.

"Positive," Mu answered with a frown.

Jen followed him silently to a small split in the wall. He walked down the briefly dark passage into a much brighter area with raised platforms of earth extending from the walls and balanced on pillars. Many shops were built into the walls and dark halls led into the tall, steep walls. There were bare patches of dirt that stood as a road. Shabby, two story buildings with large signs and displays showing their goods. People moved from area to area with small smiles as they stopped to talk with old friends and bargain. Smalls restaurants had clusters of table outside and inside with two or three people moving between tables with over-crowded trays of food. At a few of the tables multiple people sat and talked, some were even flirting and kissing. Other tables held only one or two occupants who almost completely ignored the other for their food or a book. Some people had small pets, perched on shoulders or running near their feet. A few people rode bikes with large boxes strapped to them and called for the path to be cleared.

"This is the first shopping level. This is where most of the restaurants are. There's a few clothing shops and such, but most of the actual stores are below," Mu explained as he pulled Jen out of the way of a bike by the crook of her elbow.

Jen swayed for an unnaturally long time to regain her balance. She blinked a few times and shook her head.

"Hey, you okay?" Mu asked; leaning down enough to lift her chin and observe her expression a little closer.

"Yeah, being moved so suddenly just made me dizzy," she assured. She still felt sore and unwell from her injuries and near death just days before.

"If you say so. I guess that's kinda normal," Mu shrugged as he walked on. He continued talking about the different shop owners. He himself knew quite a few of them. He had often asked them for little favors like a coat and clothes for a new citizen, or a little bit of free food for a rescue job when Thyme had been sick. He glanced over his shoulder and noticed Jen was leaning unsteadily against a pillar of rock. As he was walking back she collapsed weakly without so much as a yelp of surprise when she hit the ground.

He covered the ground to her in three strides and crouched beside her. He felt her head.

"Idiot, pretending you felt fine," Mu shook his head as he picked her up and began walking back towards the infirmary. He walked in and left her on the bed nearest the door. He walked down to the back of the building and glanced around the last bed to see Reiki fast asleep on the small, thin mattress he slept on. Blankets were piled high and nearly hid the dark brown hair of the young healer. "Reiki, wake up bro."

Reiki groaned quietly and glared over his shoulder with icy blue eyes, "What do you want?"

"Jen's got a fever," Mu said.

Reiki sat up and rubbed at his eyes. When he was woken from a deep sleep he could have the temper of a platypus-bear with a thorn in it's paw, "Is it bad? Or could you not tell?"

"It's not gonna kill her probably, but I didn't wanna risk her getting bad since she just got released a few days ago," Mu explained.

"Alright, I'll look her over and see what's wrong. Also, do you know where TNT ran off to?" Reiki asked as he walked over to the storage shelf along the same wall between the two rows of beds. He rummaged around for a moment before he found the thermometer. He had been lucky enough to have a friend who was a shopkeeper. Said friend had just happened to end up near a drugstore and swiped a thermometer. Reiki walked over and ran the thermometer across Jen's forehead. He looked at the small screen and smiled slightly, "She'll be just fine. It's just one hundred degrees. I think her body is just trying to adjust to all of these environmental and lifestyle changes she's made so quickly. She might also have a cold. When she wakes up I'll give her some cold medicine and make sure she rests for a few more days. While she's recovering you and the rest of your team, maybe TNT if he's feeling up to it, can clean out her apartment."

"Is something wrong with TNT?" Mu asked.

"The idiot slipped while trying to fix a roof, and before the others could even get him here he ran off! I'm afraid he might have a concussion and I know he has a sprained wrist and ankle. Honestly I hate it when this happens. I mean I love that it gives me a chance to spend more time with him; I don't normally get to since I can hardly leave this place incase of an emergency. I just wish he didn't sneak out all the time. I guess I can understand his hate of this place, after what happened here to his mom and sister, but still! It drives me crazy when he does this! I've got Hien out looking for him, poor thing," Reiki explained nearly shouting in frustration at times.

"Have you and TNT been fighting recently?" Mu raised an eyebrow in question.

"No, but he's just been a little too hyper recently. I really miss when we had more healers and I could leave here to spend time with him. Back when we could run around the shopping district and eat and stuff," Reiki sat down heavily on the foot of one of the beds.

"We'll find another healer soon, I promise," Mu assured. It had been hard on Reiki the day that the other five healers of the city had died. Mu found it hard to believe that had been almost three years ago.

"Too bad Jen isn't a water-bender," Reiki chuckled. There were plenty of other water-benders in the city but none had the skill to become healers.

"Well, we can't look a gift ostrich-horse in the mouth," Reiki shrugged as he glanced at Jen, "She's pretty, y'know."

"She's beautiful. She looks just like Anise did. Especially like the last time I saw Anise. She's so pale and looks so weak. I can't get that image of Anise out of my head, Reiki," Mu raked his fingers through his own dark brown hair.

Reiki walked over to the younger man and ruffled his hair, "I'm sorry you've been pulled into this hellish lifestyle, Mu. I wish I could change that much. You used to be so gentle and kind, so naive to the horrible problems of this world. I miss the old Mu. I miss the old Alex. That was your birth name, am I correct?"

"We were rescued just three weeks apart, right? I remember because you were still so traumatized from being taken to an execution center. We comforted each other then, right? Yeah, I guess that was my name then," Mu said sadly.

"I hate that tradition, Mu. We should keep the names that our parents give us. We should try to remember them and everyone else from our time in the non-bender's world," Reiki frowned.

"That's where we disagree, friend. I love this tradition. It gives me an excuse to forget the names I associate with those I don't want to think about," Mu responded simply as he sat down on the foot of the bed across from Reiki.

"I don't think Alex would have ever said that. This city has changed you, Mu. So, so much," Reiki shook his head and ran a few fingers through his hair.

"I haven't been Alex for a long time, Reiki. What brought about this nostalgia?" Mu asked. He leaned forward and rested his chin in his hands and his elbows on his knees.

"I went to the graveyard," Reiki answered shortly, "A lot of those old names and pictures brought back memories I guess. I wish I could go back to those times again. More than anything."

"I certainly don't. I prefer living here, trapping as it may be. Living out in the open for all that time was just too hard on all of us," Mu reminded.

Jen opened her eyes slightly. At first she had wondered where she was, but she soon noticed that she was in one of the soft infirmary beds. Mu and Reiki were talking. She decided to leave her consciousness unknown to the two.

"We're all different, Mu. At least you get to leave. I can't even hardly leave this stupid building," Reiki sighed.

"Well, maybe by some miracle one of our benders will magically become a water-bender and come help you. Just hang in there for awhile longer and I promise that we'll get you some helpers," Mu assured yet again as he stood, "Give me a call when Jen wakes up. I'm going home for now, but I want to tell her about the city and the idea of changing her name," Mu said as he excused himself from the infirmary.

Reiki stood up and walked over to Jen to see how she was doing.

He noticed that she was blinking up at him.

"How long have you been awake?" he chuckled as he went to the storage shelf and rummaged around for a moment. He dug through a box of medicines, pulling out boxes and checking names and expiration dates. He threw a few of the small boxes of pills or bottles of liquid into a nearby trashcan. He finally found what he was searching for. It was a small box of gel-capsules. The small foil wrappers held two pills each and he opened a packet, picked up a cup from the shelf, filled it at the sink anchored into the wall beside the shelf, and took them to Jen, "Go ahead and take these. You seem to just have a bit of a cold right now. They'll make you drowsy, so I'm gonna go ahead and let you sleep some more before I call Mu back."

"Okay," Jen accepted the pills and water. She hardly needed the pills to fall asleep. She still couldn't shake the lingering exhaustion she had had since awakening in the city.

* * *

><p>Nobuhide panted quietly as he brought a wall of stone up between him and TNT. He had gone to take TNT back to the infirmary to be healed; however, as soon as TNT saw him he attacked.<p>

"I'm going to lower this wall, and you are going to come quietly with me to the infirmary. If you attack me I'm not afraid to go full force against you," Nobuhide panted as he wiped a small drip of blood from his nose. The stupid fire-bender had punched him in the face before he fled down the training level tunnels. He brought the wall down and rushed forward. He caught TNT in a tackle and pinned the taller, stronger male to the ground. He bent a ring of stone around him to hold his arms against his sides. He picked TNT up and began the long task of taking him to the infirmary. After about twenty minutes he had reached the top of the ladder with a struggling TNT. He carried the squirming man to the infirmary and dumped him rather harshly on the floor just inside.

"I'm gonna block the doors so I don't have to chase him down again, Reiki, okay?" Nobuhide didn't even wait for a response before he blocked the doors with a wall of stone.

"Alright, I'll heal you in just a second if you want to sit down," Reiki motioned to one of the many empty beds as he hauled TNT to his feet by hooking a hand in each armpit and dragging the fire-bender up, "Please stop running off like that TNT. I know you hate in here."

"I hate this place more than pain. I'd much rather be suffering with a little headache than have to come here," TNT stumbled slightly and didn't catch himself before he fell onto one of the beds.

"As soon as you're healed you can go back to work or your apartment," Reiki soothed quietly, planting a light kiss on TNT's cheek. After that he bent a trail of water from the sink faucet and let it form a small layer over his palms. He held them against TNT's head and smiled lightly as the expression of pain on the fire-bender's face eased. He then healed his wrist, which was already swelling and turning an unpleasant shade of green. Finally he healed his ankle and cut the stone away by filling the cracks with water and freezing it.

"Thanks," TNT muttered grudgingly.

"I'll try to stop by your apartment later to hang out, okay?" Reiki offered as TNT rose to leave.

"Maybe," TNT answered.

"You're not mad I had to drag you here, are you?" Reiki asked; he sounded almost desperate with that question.

"You didn't drag me here, he did," TNT directed an icy glare at Nobuhide with fiery eyes, "But next time if I don't want to be healed let me be, got it, _sweety_?" That nickname, often used so affectionately by the two for one another, was said with a trace of hatred.

Reiki just pouted indignantly. This happened a great deal, he realized, and it put a ridiculous strain on their relationship when it did happen. He needed to find time to be around TNT more. He turned his attention to Nobuhide, who at the very moment was pressing a bloody wad of tissues against his nose.

"Sorry, did I make him mad at you?" the question wasn't asked seriously nor kindly.

"Do you really want to anger the person who's about to heal your broken nose? I could heal it crookedly for you," Reiki glared.

"No sir," Nobuhide answered indignantly.

* * *

><p>AN: Thanks a big bunch for reading! :D I hope you enjoyed it and I'd appreciate reviews. I'm gonna aim for getting three reviews for this chapter before I post the next one. Which means, if you don't review there's a chance that three more people won't either. I really wanna hear what you all think, who's your favorite character, who do you want to know more about, do you see anything I could fix with my writing or have any questions I may have been vague on? Type to y'all later


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK

* * *

><p>Chapter 4<p>

"You have to be extremely careful when you choose your career. If you can't handle the job, mentally _or _physically, then you'll be sent to the power plant without further thought. With that said, I have a few warnings about each job. Each of the three choices has an equal amount of risk, to _both _your physical and mental state. The demolition team has a very high risk of accident. It has the highest death rate of the three. With that job you will also be required to go to the power plants often, this- for you especially- could be a threat to your mental health. Becoming a shop owner means you'll have to leave to steal things to sell. If you've got a clean conscience I'm just gonna tell you it'll be hard for you. I've seen shop keepers sink to astonishing levels to get what they need and you'd have to do that if you chose them. Lastly is the rescue team. Honestly, I think you're strong enough physically and have a strong enough will for this, but we see some pretty disturbing stuff there. I'm not even gonna try to sugar coat it for you, people will die, people will beg to be killed, and you will more likely than not be the one to kill them. I never suggest any group lightly, but the rescue team will put you through hell again and again for the rest of your life," Mu explained. He was sitting on the foot of Jen's bed.

"How long will I have to chose?" Jen asked.

"The law states that you have to decide within one hour of the risks of each team being explained to you. Nick claims it'll keep you from thinking too hard on it, says newcomers will trust their gut with that little time," Mu answered blandly.

"I choose the rescue team," Jen answered. Her forced swallow showed her wish she hadn't spoken.

"Are you absolutely certain? There's no going back after this," Mu warned.

Jen exhaled slightly, "I'm positive. I want to save people the same way you all saved me."

"Welcome to the team, Jenny. I'm sure we're all gonna be excited to have you. I'll go tell Nick your choice so he can add it to the city records. Then I'll be back to explain a bit more and take you down to the training level to see if you've retained any of your skill," Mu opened his arms as if welcoming her.

He left, and returned five minutes later.

"Now, Reiki told me not to push you too hard, so as soon as you feel like you're ready to finish up training for the day I need you to tell me," Mu demanded.

"Okay," Jen nodded. They reached the ladder.

"Ladies first," Mu motioned for her to descend the ladder first. They went to a familiar cave of the training area. This was where they had started Jen's training, "Now, do you remember the stance we worked on?"

Jen confirmed with a nod as she sank into the stance.

"Now, I want you to try to move this rock," he raised a large stone from the ground and stood back to watch.

Jen did the usual motions she had been taught. She furrowed her brow as the rock did nothing.

"I was afraid this might happen," Mu explained, "I guess you were just so desperate to live up here you managed to bend from your instincts. This happens sometimes. Just give it some time and more hard work. Why don't we work on your stance for awhile?"

Jen's expression was one of deep concentration as she continued to take up a steady, wide-legged stance and tried to keep balanced.

* * *

><p>Mu made his ways up the stairs to one of the middle floors of the building Nick's office was in. He knocked on the door.<p>

He was answered with a quiet, startled snore and a drowsy, "Who's it?"

"The person who can get you kicked off of your team if you keep sleeping on the job," Mu answered in good humor. He opened the door.

"Sorry. Nobuhide asked me to work his shift for him, and that started eighteen hours ago," the boy who answered had pale grey eyes.

"It's fine, Hien. Just try to be more careful with your shifts. Nobu loves taking advantage of those kind enough to take his shift and their own," Mu advised, "Any new reports?"

"Yeah, we've got a girl from a city where the Fire Nation used to be. Actually around the area where that new bender came from. Her name is Hazel. She's about five foot and has brown hair with blue streaks dyed in. She's got a tan complexion, and plenty of freckles. Her eyes are quiet an oddity, though. They're a beautiful golden color. The reports say she's a water-bender. The only problem is that she's running in the opposite direction of this place," Hien reported.

"Stupid westernized names. Ever since The United Republic spread they've been everywhere," Mu wrinkled his nose in disgust, "Oh well. Was there not a picture?"

"Sorry but there wasn't a picture. I looked through all of the news reports I could find. You'll just have to go on what I've managed to find," Hien shrugged.

"We'll be leaving tomorrow. I assume you'll be staying here?" Mu asked as he turned towards the door.

"I won't be much help with my arm, Mu. I'd love to go but I'd just get in the way in fights," Hien smiled slightly. He missed the days of going out with the rest of the team. He would never let Nick catch him complaining, though. He was lucky to catch this job and not be sent to the power plants after he'd had part of his spinal column damaged and developed slow reflexes in his left arm and leg.

"Maybe one of these days you'll feel like working at improving your mobility again. I'll come by for more information on the report tomorrow," Mu waved as he left. He was about to head towards the infirmary when he remembered that Jen had moved into the women's apartments. It had been four days since she had fallen ill. It had only taken a few hours for her to recover almost completely from the cold. He had long since explained more about the three jobs of the city and the opportunity to change her name. She had chose to keep her name. He walked up the wide stairs that led up to a long platform that had a doorway at each end and a tunnel at the opposite. He walked to the doorway farthest from the tunnel. It led to a slightly open area where a three story building was built into the wall. He knocked on the door.

Jen opened the door and looked up at him, "Hey, whatcha doing here?"

"Seeing if my newest team member is ready for her first rescue job. We're leaving tomorrow. I'll give you a thirty minute warning call. You'll need to bring your jacket, I'll pack a bag of supplies for you," Mu instructed, "We'll meet at the door out of the city. Any questions?"

"About how long will we be gone?" Jen asked.

"I've got no clue, honestly. We usually don't know until we get back," Mu chuckled, "Since you're not very good as a bender yet you'll mostly be observing, does that sound okay?"

Jen nodded.

"See you tomorrow then, Jenny," Mu ruffled her hair and left.

Jen turned around and closed the door behind her. She walked back to the couch where she had been before Mu had come; she picked up a book and started reading it. She constantly borrowed books from Reiki's personal library by now. To her it hardly seemed like she'd been in the city for over two weeks. Of course most of the first week was either spent unconscious or training non-stop. As she read longer her eyes began to get heavy. Her head lolled towards the back of the couch and her eyes finally closed. The book fell out of her relaxed hands and rested, still open, on her breast.

* * *

><p>Jen's cellphone, something every new member of the city gets after choosing their team, rang loudly. She startled awake and dug through her pocket for the small flip-phone. Mu's name came up on the caller ID. As soon as he'd given her the phone he entered the numbers and names off all of the members of his part of the rescue team.<p>

"This is your thirty minute warning! The only think you'll need to bring is your coat and one change of clothes incase yours get torn up or wet. I packed everything else for you," Mu didn't wait for a "hello" before he spoke.

"Okay. I'll be at the door in twenty minutes," Jen estimated she would get there early. At first she had found the idea of wearing the same outfit for days on end to be disgusting, but Mu had explained that they didn't have the resources to let people have more than one or two outfits. She didn't take long to adjust to the concept; she really wanted a new change of clothes though. She went and got her only other change of clothes. It was a simple long-sleeve shirt. It was made of thick fabric and had elastic cuffs at the ends of the sleeves to keep them down on her arms. The fabric was also very rough and blood red. Her current shirt was a thin, girl-cut t-shirt. It had a low v-neck and was made of soft green fabric. The first of the two pairs of pants were what she assumed were once a very nice pair of dress slacks for a girl, but they had thread-bare patches and stains all over them. The second pair were old jeans; they fit her snuggly. She folded the jeans and the long sleeved shirt and tucked them under her arm. She pulled on her coat and buttoned it. It was more of a jacket than a coat, but in this city if it had sleeves and went over a shirt it was considered a coat. She walked out of her apartment, making sure to turn off the light, and walked out of the small cavern where the building was located. She walked across the raised area of stone that led from the women's apartments to the passage out of the city. There were already a few people there. She hadn't met many people in the city yet. She didn't recognize any of the people there.

"Hey Jen! You've really joined the rescue team?" Cais asked with bright eyes.

"Hi, uh, yeah. Would you all mind if I asked your names?" Jen asked nervously.

"Oh, of course. My name is Cais, it's nice to meet you," he smiled.

"I'm Rusty, pleasure to meet you Jen," he held out a hand to shake.

Jen shook his hand and smiled uncertainly.

"I'm Rosy," the other, who was identical to Rusty, introduced.

"My name is Akio," a young man of about twenty-two smiled. His hair was a sandy blonde color that looked odd against his naturally tan skin. His eyes were a chocolatey brown color.

"I'm Ryoichi," the last of the group offered his hand as well. He was short and stocky with startlingly pale skin and just as pale hair. His eyes were a glacial blue that was a similar color to frosty chilled water.

"It's nice to meet you all," Jen smiled.

"Man, you need to get out of your apartment more when we're actually here! You'll never make any friends that way," Akio said.

"Akio, you'll scare her if you act like that all the time," Rosy elbowed the older man in the ribs.

"Looks like we'll be leaving early," Mu announced as he approached.

"What about Nobu?" Rusty asked.

"Nick wanted him to stay behind this time. I'm not sure why but he wanted his help on something or other," Mu waved off their concern, "Now, we need to get moving! The girl we're trying to catch is going in the opposite direction, and she's from the same city Jen is from so we'll probably be gone awhile."

"We have to go all the way past that place?" Ryoichi looked startled, "How will we make it in time?"

"We'll just have to hurry; we won't accomplish anything if we just stand here all day. Come on," Mu turned and walked down the passage.

The earth-bender at the door waved them off as he moved the stone outside the door and watched them go. Once they were all out he closed the stone back up again and locked the door.

"It stopped snowing, good," Rusty sighed happily. The group stopped before leaving the shadow of the mountain and looked around. There was no one around. Without another word they ran to the trees that stood nearly a mile away. None of them slowed down until they had reached the trees.

"Alright, Jen. We'll be moving as quickly and quietly as possible. Follow us and you'll be fine," Mu smiled at her.

* * *

><p>AN: I'm gonna cut the chapter off there, I know it's a few hundred words shorter than usual, sorry :( I'll try to make the next longer but I just felt this was an appropriate place to leave this at.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK

A/N: I'm just gonna warn you all, later in this chapter is a tiny bit descriptive of wounds and blood so if that bothers you you might want skip it, or stop reading. It will get worse next chapter.

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

"Alright guys, we're stopping for a break," Mu whispered. None of the others were more than a little out of breath except Jen. Jen was doubled over gasping for air.

"Is the new girl alright?" Akio whispered. They had to keep their voices low in case they had ended up close to a catcher's camp.

"I'm fine. I'm just not used to running recently. The cold's hurting I guess," Jen managed to choke out as she doubled over even more; trying her best to catch her breath quickly.

Ryoichi glanced at her momentarily, "We should have given her longer to recover. She shouldn't have come."

"She won't recover if we coddle her forever," Mu chuckled, "Hurry up and eat while we've stopped. Drink a little something too, and if you need to go to the bathroom there's adequate bush cover over there." He walked over to Jen and crouched next to her, "Will you be alright Jenny?"

"Yeah, I just need a second to catch my breath. Sorry if I'm slowing you down," Jen panted.

"It's fine. We move pretty quickly; especially for someone who's only been out of the hospital for a week," Mu smiled and ruffled her hair, "You're keeping up far better than most newbs do on their _third_ trip. Be proud of yourself. Rest. We'll be leaving in twenty minutes. Is that long enough for you to catch your breath and eat?"

"That'll be enough time," Jen smiled and nodded. Soon she shakily took out one of the sandwiches that had been packed. They were made with dried meat and cheese that was so old she was sure it wouldn't grow any more harmful mold than it already had.

"Sorry if I sounded a little rude earlier," Ryoichi muttered as Akio urged him to apologize with a solid elbow in the ribs.

"It's fine. I know I'm drawing everyone down," Jen waved it away, "I've always dragged everyone around me down so I'm used to getting that."

"Stop being so hard on yourself. We haven't had to slow our pace for you at all," Cais assured. Everyone was still keeping their voices low.

"Sorry, it's a habit," Jen chuckled. She had finished her sandwich and drank half of one of the bottles of water she had.

"I wonder how long it'll take us to catch up to Hazel," Rusty- Jen was almost sure it was Rusty because he was the one with the scarf. Or was that Rosy? She couldn't remember- but one of the twins spoke.

"Probably awhile," Mu answered, "I'd say it'll take us a full week to reach the city she left from. After that I have no clue how long it'll take us to find her, let alone catch up to her."

"Then it'll take at least another week to get back home. I hope that kid's in good shape when we get to her," Ryoichi shook his head. This movement caused his pale bangs to sway against his forehead.

"She will be," Cais assured.

_I wonder how many people he's seen die. This kid doesn't deserve this, _Mu thought as he silently drew a circle in the snow with his numb fingers.

"Time's up. We should get moving," Rosy whispered as he stood up and secured his backpack.

Mu stood and nodded.

Jen stood a little hesitantly as if she weren't ready to run again, but she made it to her feet and stood waiting to follow.

"Follow," Mu said to the others. This was all the command they needed before they charged after him in the cover of the trees.

They moved almost silently. They all seemed like well adapted wolves, and to Jen her own footsteps sounded like she was running across brittle leaves. Their pace didn't slow. Jen's breathing began to grow ragged again. Her chest burned with every breath she took after about twenty minutes of their set pace. She refused to let herself slow down, though, and she kept up well. She was genuinely surprised when she noticed the sun was setting. They were still in the rather dense pine forest that divided the mountains from the rest of the world to the south.

"Gather firewood. Make sure it's dry. I'll clear some snow; we can start a fire and then sleep," Mu commanded as he began bending the snowy ground away from a layer of dry rock beneath. The layer of dirt he had removed was solid ice, "Go ahead and get to sleep, Jen."

"Are you sure?" Jen asked. She didn't think she would be able to offer much help; she was too tired. She still felt bad about sitting out while everyone else did work.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Cais'll probably decide to hit the hay as soon as he brings one load of kindling," Mu assured.

Jen nodded and laid down. Her coat offered little protection against the cold that seeped through but she knew that no one brought blankets or anything to sleep on. They had to be able to leave no trace of their stay in very little time. Mu had been sure to explain this all to her. Her muscles unintentionally shook and her teeth chattered. She curled tightly into a ball. She was deeply surprised when warmth spread across her back and shoulders. Someone was hugging her. It was warm. She didn't really mind it as much as she should have.

* * *

><p><em>My legs hurt! Why did this happen? What did I ever do?! <em>a young woman thought as she ran. For the first time in her life she wished her hair wasn't dyed blue; she wished her eyes weren't such an unusual color. If only she could look more unnoticeable. If only she had brown or amber eyes. Her foot caught on a tree root and she tripped forward. Her chin collided painfully with the ground and drove her teeth into her tongue. Blood gushed through her mouth from the delicate, muscular organ. She whimpered as she forced herself back to her feet. For some of the benders she'd seen brought through her home town on their way to execution camps she knew she was in good condition. If only she could last longer, _That's right. 'If only!' If only I weren't a bender!_

"The brat got away again. **** it!" a catcher spit right next to where the girl's foot had been a second before.

She prayed that they wouldn't see her tucked away under the large roots of the swamp tree.

The catchers left. The girl quietly dabbed at her tongue with a clean scrap of fabric from her jacket. She didn't need it here, so she had taken to using it for a blanket and for catching fish when she could. Her water-bending was nowhere near good enough to catch fish. She laid her head against the root next to her. She allowed herself a moment of quiet sleep.

* * *

><p>Jen tried not to let the familiarity of the town bother her. It was her home. She was so close, but she knew she could never return home safely. They had gotten there quicker than Mu had predicted. They had only spent five days arriving to the town.<p>

"Alright, we need to be especially careful here. Many of us are known by face as wanted criminals so it's crucial we don't get spotted," Mu announced.

"How does it feel to be so close to home, newb?" Akio asked jokingly.

Jen ignored him. She wondered how her parents were doing. How her younger siblings were doing. She was going to miss her friends. Well, most of her friends. She would never miss the friend who had single handedly ruined her life. She still remembered all to well the devious expression on the other girl's face when Jen accidentally bent up a rock. The girl was a catcher's daughter, her and Jen had been friends for most of their lives. Thinking of _her, _Miach, made Jen's blood boil to an unreasonable level.

"Hey Jen, you alright?" Cais tugged gently on her sleeve.

"Fine, just thinking about home," Jen assured.

Cais hesitated before speaking again and when he did it was an even quieter whisper, "You looked upset. Did something bad happen at your home?"

"One of my best friends turned me in when she found out I was a bender. I was just thinking about her," Jen sighed.

"What's living in the non-bender world like?" Cais asked.

"What? Didn't you used to live out here as well?" Jen asked.

Cais shook his head, "When they found out my sister was a bender my mom left with her. When she was pregnant with me. I was born just a week after the city was completed. I guess I do look a few years older than I really am; I can see why you thought I had spent some time out here."

"How old are you?" Jen asked.

"Thirteen," Cais answered.

"Wow, I thought you were about sixteen," Jen's eyes widened.

"Everyone does, when we first meet," Cais giggled. His face didn't have the babyish appearance that was expected of a thirteen year old. It had lost the small amount of roundness that a tween's face had, "So how is living in the non-bending world different than the mountain?"

"Well, there's sunlight, for one thing. Cars-"

"I've read books about cars before. And I've seen some from afar. Are they really loud to be in?" Cais asked.

"You get used to the sound. We have a lot more girls and younger children and older people. There are playgrounds for little kids and amusement parks for everyone. It's not always as crowded. Houses out here are generally more sturdy and stores have a lot more stuff in them," Jen listed, "There are a lot of differences I'm not sure how to explain."

"I wonder what playing with other kids my age would have been like," Cais smiled.

"We're gonna run again now. I feel we're far enough from the town to avoid drawing suspicion," Mu announced before running off at an astonishing pace.

The others followed. Jen was surprised at first by how quickly her body had adapted to the speed they went at from sun rise until sun set with one break. Her legs didn't ache as badly and breathing was easier when they slowed. Just past the city the ground around the old, cracked, asphalt road was very damp and swampy.

"The road cuts off ahead. It might be harder to keep up this pace," Jen warned. She used to drive to the end of this road just to watch the small swamp animals.

"How bad will the ground be? Worse to go through than snow?" Mu questioned.

"Much. You'll have to be careful not to let you legs or feet get stuck," Jen warned. She had been right. The bits of asphalt were much smaller and broken to rest much farther from one another. The ground practically swallowed their feet as they stepped off of the solid asphalt.

Cais lost his balance and pitched forward; if Jen hadn't caught the back of his shirt-collar he would have landed face first in the mud.

"Thanks," Cais thanked as he tried to regain his footing.

"Here, this might help you all," Jen sighed as she waded over to a tree and hauled herself up onto a branch. She snapped off four branches that created a rectangle just larger than Cais's foot. She stuck them together with sap leaking from a small break in the tree's bark and the began doing the same with smaller twigs. She created two small platforms like this and tossed them down to Cais, "Try sticking your feet to those with sap. See how that works."

"It's like a snow shoe, huh," Akio sounded impressed by how resourceful Jen was.

"Yeah, my friend and I used to come out here a lot when we were really little and we just came up with this one day when she lost her shoe in the mud," Jen beamed. She hadn't smiled that genuinely since she'd been discovered as a bender. She tried not to think about which friend that had been, though.

"Well, this should make things quicker," Mu nodded his approval.

Soon they all had mud shoes.

"Hey, I just heard someone talking over here!" someone called.

They all stopped dead.

"Run," a quiet voice whispered from the roots of a tree near them. A girl with golden eyes and blue-stripped hair whispered urgently, "Catchers!"

Mu glanced in the direction of the voices. He glanced at Cais, Rusty, and Ryoichi. He mouthed, "Take care of them and catch up."

The three nodded and silently left in the direction of the catchers.

"Who are you?" the girl asked shakily.

Mu crouched cautiously in front of her and put on his best comforting smile, "We're from the City of Benders. We've come to take you to your new home."

"You mean I won't have to run from them forever?" she asked. Her eyes glimmered with grateful tears, "I'm not gonna die soon."

"You'll be safe, in the City. It will take us awhile to get there though," Mu assured with a smile.

"What about those catchers?" the girl glanced in the direction where they had been.

"Me and my friends are trained to fight catchers. They'll incapacitate them and then catch up with us. Can you stand?" Mu offered his hand to her as he stood.

The girl stood unsteadily. She looked mildly dehydrated.

"Your name is Hazel, yes?" Mu asked as he carefully wrapped an arm around her shoulders to help her stand.

"Yeah. How'd you know?" Hazel asked suspiciously.

"We find benders in distress like you by looking at wanted bender reports. It says your name there," Mu ruffled her hair.

"W-watch out!" Jen called.

A catcher had strayed from the group that was fighting Cais, Rusty, and Ryoichi. He held a bow up, but it no longer had an arrow knocked.

Hazel gasped in pain; her voice squeaked as she slumped against Mu. An arrow was imbedded in the right side of her lower back.

Jen raised the ground beneath the catcher and sent him through the branches of the trees. They could only hear him come back down somewhere far off.

"Get her back to the road. Be careful not to disrupt that arrow no matter what," Mu slung Hazel's arm over Jen's shoulder before he ran to where Cais, Rusty, and Ryoichi were fighting. Rosy and Akio followed close behind him.

Jen did as she was told and carefully moved Hazel to the broken road. She sat the girl down carefully and laid her on her side.

"It hurts," the water-bender whimpered.

"I know. Arrows hurt really bad. But don't worry. We'll get you back to the City in no time and get that taken care of. You'll be okay," Jen soothed quietly as she brushed Hazel's hair back and out of her face. Jen let the side of her hand linger where Hazel's jaw met her neck. Her pulse was insanely fast and increasing with the second. The arrow was no doubt coated in one of the more fatal venoms, "You'll be alright."

* * *

><p>Cais blasted one of the catchers back with a billow of fire towards their abdomen. The catcher fell into the mud and let out a startled cry as she was trapped from standing up.<p>

Rusty and Rosy both sent another catcher back against a tree with their fire-bending. He hit his head against the tree trunk and fell to the ground.

"A catcher shot Hazel," Mu called before he darted after a group of three catchers who were trying to get away.

Cais stood and ran off in the direction Mu had come from.

"Cais, over here!" Jen called when Cais reached the edge of the trees near the road.

Cais ran over and slung his backpack off of his shoulders He already had his backpack open when he reached them. He was searching for something. He pulled out a first aid kit and a knife, "Alright, Hazel I'm just gonna cut the fabric away from the wound so I can get a better look at it. I'm not gonna cut you I promise."

Hazel nodded and whimpered slightly. She looked terrified.

"Now just hold still. That's good," Cais cooed as he cut the fabric of her shirt away from the wound. The arrow hadn't gone very deep, "I'm going to pour some saline over the wound. It may hurt, I'm sorry."

Hazel yelped in pain as the cold liquid gushed into the wound.

"What are we gonna do?" Jen asked quietly, "I think there may have been venom on that arrow. Her pulse is picking up rapidly and I don't think it's from blood loss."

"I'm going to cut the arrow out and check the internal damage. I know that she may bleed to death but that's a far better option than leaving that thing in there, especially if it might have venom on it," Cais answered quietly, "Hazel, I'm going to cut around the wound now. Just talk to Jen, try to ignore it sweety."

"How long did you live in that city over there?" Jen asked sweetly.

"F-four years," Hazel swallowed hard as she felt the blade cut around the wound just a tiny bit. It stung and made her want to move away from the blade.

"Four years, huh? What school did you go to?" Jen let Hazel squeeze her hand as Cais carefully cut the arrowhead free.

"Zuko High," Hazel answered through clenched teeth.

"I went there. What grade were you in?" Jen used her other hand to pet the side of Hazel's head in a soft, calming manner.

"I was a freshman," Hazel answered.

"What kinds of classes were you taking?" Jen asked.

"Regul-ow!" Hazel bit her tongue to silence the pained scream that tried to escape her lips as Cais finally removed the arrow.

Cais's expression darkened as he inspected the damage left by the arrow.

"It hurts!" Hazel suddenly screamed; she sounded as if the pain had rushed back in one giant wave. As if it hurt even more.

"I know what mix of venoms they used. Hazel, I'm so sorry," Cais whispered. The wound wasn't bleeding like it should. The little blood that oozed out was congealed. Along with the sudden pain he knew it had some platypus-bear venom on it. The congealed blood hinted at rattle-viper, "I'm so, so sorry."

"Am I dying?" Hazel asked through ragged gasps of pain and gritted teeth.

Cais's lip trembled as he spoke, "Yes. I don't have the anti-venom to save you. I'm so sorry."

"Will it hurt worse than this?" Hazel asked quietly as she writhed about slightly.

"Yes. That pain will get much worse," Cais had walked around to crouch near her head.

"I don't wanna suffer like this," Hazel whispered.

"If it would help you, we could end your life quickly. Do you wish it?" Cais asked.

* * *

><p>AN: Okay, haha, please don't hate me y'all. Thanks a bunch for reading, reviews are appreciated!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK

A/N: In case you didn't read the previous warning, this chapter may be sorta bloody and graphic, it has a lot of mention of death and similar things so I do ask that if that is something you are uncomfortable reading about that you stop reading now.

* * *

><p>Chapter 6<p>

"Please just make it stop hurting. I don't care how," Hazel whimpered pathetically. Tears stained and glimmered on her face. Her lip trembled with an attempt not to sob out of fear and pain.

"Hold on just a moment," Cais murmured sadly. He reached to his belt and pulled his knife free. He handed it to Jen, "When I tell you to, please slit her throat."

Jen looked like a deer-elk in headlights as she took the knife. She was chewing nervously on her lower lip and stripping the skin off with her teeth.

"Hey Hazel, watch this," Cais smiled sweetly as he held his hand in the air and multi-colored fire rose from his palm. It formed shapes and moved; it looked alive. It formed the shapes of animals. It created sweet birds that flew higher and higher until their flames faded out. He created orbs of blue fire and green fire, of red fire and pale yellow fire. It created a lion that stood proudly, "Okay Jen."

Jen's hand trembled on the knife as she drew it forcefully and quickly across Hazel's throat just under where her jaw and neck met.

"Thank you for not letting me suffer more," Hazel mouthed as blood filled her mouth and dripped from her neck. She wouldn't be able to even speak a last word because her trachea was split.

Jen had to look away.

Cais sobbed. His features contorted in mental suffering as he wailed. Tears ran quickly from his eyes and soaked his cheeks; they left splotchy red marks in their path. He always had to watch people die! He cursed his odd fire-bending sometimes. No one had ever tried to console or comfort him at times like these, and for the first time he felt a gentle, warm hand on his shoulder.

"Cais, it's what she needed. I wish it could have been different but there was no choice," Jen whispered and gently pulled him into a hug. _No one should have to suffer through this, especially not someone his age. Poor thing, poor poor thing, _Jen thought as she stroked his hair and whispered quiet words of comfort as he sobbed onto her shoulder.

"I can always make someone smile before they die, but I can never save anyone from death! I hate being this powerless. Why can't my bending be normal, why can't I just turn the other way and pretend that people aren't dying. Why do I always have to help?" Cais bawled.

"Cais, someone like me will only ever be able to kill people; you're special because you can make them forget their pain, forget that they're dying. Those flames were amazing, and Hazel was smiling at them. Just a second before that she'd been writhing in pain and begging for death and you made her smile. She looked just like a little kid watching a magic show, and I know that she was happy in those last few seconds," Jen murmured. She rested her chin atop Cais's head and rubbed soothing circled across his shoulders as his sobs quieted, "Do you want me to dig her a grave? Is that something you all do?"

Cais nodded against her shoulder, "Mu will put a marker there, but if you can bury her I think they'd appreciate it."

"Okay," Jen said quietly as she moved back and stood up. She took an earth-bending stance and lifted a large amount of sodden dirt from the ground. She had created a perfect rectangle that was about six feet deep, three feet wide, and five feet long. She lowered Hazel's lifeless, bloodied body into the hole. She herself climbed out of the hole and then bent the soil back into the hole.

Cais had managed to stop crying by that point. He looked exhausted.

"What happened, Cais?" Mu called as he ran over with the others close behind.

"Hazel's dead," Cais answered.

Mu glanced at the blood on Jen's hands and paled. The last thing he had wanted was for someone so new to their lifestyle to have to kill someone, "How bad was it?"

"Venom, lots of venom. I think it was rattle-viper venom mixed with platypus-bear venom. Her blood was coagulating, all of it was, and she was in a lot of pain," Cais answered.

"I'll mark her grave," Mu picked up a chunk of asphalt from the road and pulled his knife out. He carved in deeply the words: "Hazel, water-bender MURDERED by catchers. R.I.P."

_That's a lie. She was murdered by me, _Jen thought bitterly.

Mu secured the stone into the dirt near the grave carefully before he stood up, "There's a small clearing without mud over there. We're going to camp there for the night."

"But it's hardly noon yet," Jen pointed out. Everything around her seemed muted; she almost felt numbed by what she had done.

"I think Cais needs a rest," Mu said.

"Mu, I'm fine. We should get back to the city sooner," Cais argued.

"We're camping here and that's final," Mu answered. The group followed him to the small clearing where they all settled in.

"Jen, I need to talk to you," Mu whispered to her, "Away from everyone else."

Jen just followed him. They walked away from the small spot of solid ground and climbed into a tree.

"Jen, I... I never thought you'd have to do that so soon. I didn't think you'd have to kill someone so soon. I'm so sorry, Jenny. I should have left one of the others with you so you could have just looked away. I need you to know, please listen," he paused until she looked back at him. She was trying desperately to hide her tears, "that it isn't always like this. Sometimes it gets bad, I know that, but it won't always end like this."

"Mu, the grave marker lied. I murdered her," Jen responded blankly; she stared at her own boot-clad feet that dangled off of the branch she was on.

"No, no you didn't Jenny. Never say you did," Mu's voice had lowered to a whisper as he gently pulled her into a hug.

"I was the one who killed her, what else should I call it?" Jen's shoulder's tensed and she acted as if she were about to pull back.

"You didn't kill her, Jen, you saved her. She would have died writhing and screaming if you hadn't done that," Mu assured, "One of the venoms they used, platypus-bear venom, is nearly unbearable. The pain is so bad you can't think straight and it doesn't go away quickly. It lasts for weeks and it doesn't let up."

"I slit her throat! I don't care what you want to call it I murdered her! I shouldn't be aloud to live-" a loud, ringing slap cut Jen off before she could finish.

Mu lowered his hand away from her reddening cheek, "Never say you don't deserve to live! Aren't aloud to live! Think about the people who died, Jen! Do you think they'd say that now?!" Mu no longer tried to keep his voice down. He was shouted loud enough that Jen was certain the others could hear all the way from their camp.

Jen swung down from the branch and walked back towards the camp. When she got back she laid down and stared at the sky. She should have eaten, but she couldn't bring herself to eat anything. She sat back up and walked to the edge of the solid ground. She plunged both of her hands into the mud and began scrubbing the blood off of them. She didn't care about the dirt under her nails or the mud caking her hands as she walked back to her spot and laid down. She began to dose off.

* * *

><p>Mu quietly shook Jen's shoulder. They needed to get moving towards the city.<p>

Jen lifted her head off of the ground slightly and opened her eyes. It was still dark outside. It would probably be hours until the sun rose even.

"We're leaving soon, time to get up," Mu whispered.

Jen glared at him but didn't go back to sleep. She had a bruise across her cheek because of him and she wasn't going to forgive him anytime soon, "I'm up."

"Mu, I feel bad," Rosy murmured when Mu went to wake him up. Rosy looked feverish.

Mu felt the fire-bender's forehead, "You've got a fever. I'll carry you today."

"Thanks," Rosy murmured. Mu knelt down for the fire-bender to climb onto his back.

"Alright, we're leaving now," Mu announced quietly.

They were about a mile from the other side of the city when Jen stopped dead. Her eyes widened as she watched a catcher spring from the bushes beside the old, long-forgotten path they were using.

"Hey, you're a pretty girly. Why're you traveling with people like them?" he asked with a rough laugh. He was pointing a gun at her.

"Mu, guys, run!" Jen cried.

Mu turned around. His eyes widened. It reminded him far too much of one of the worse times Anise had been threatened at gun point.

Rosy took this as his cue to squirm off of Mu's back and scamper to the trees. What he wasn't expecting was another catcher with a knife.

Akio looked around. They were surrounded by catchers. Jen was the only one outside of the circle.

"Now!" one of the catchers barked, "No one move! If anyone moves we'll attack, got that?"

They all stood stalk still.

"Girl, you have permission to move into the circle. That's right, now stop right there," another catcher grinned. He was holding a bow with a knocked arrow at the ready.

"I recognize this boy," the catcher with the gun smirked as he motioned towards Mu, "He's the one who'd been with that girl fire-bender a few years back. The one who left her behind."

Mu's lips pulled back in a slight snarl.

The gun-wielding catcher shot a warning shot next to Mu's foot, "Why so aggressive? Do you feel guilty for what you did?"

Mu's patience was wearing very, _very _thin.

Cais slowly grabbed Mu's wrist in a comforting manner. He was trying to calm their leader down before he could do something stupid.

"Now, you all have permission to move, so you can follow us. If you even look like you're going to try escaping we'll kill you," another catcher, this one with a series of blow-darts, commanded.

They were all careful to stay grouped together in the circle. Rosy was leaning a bit of his weight against Mu as he walked. Rosy was feeling light headed on and off as he moved.

Mu glanced around before leaning close to Rosy and whispering, "When you feel me move my arm, drop to the ground. Tell the others to do that when you drop."

Rosy passed the message.

Suddenly Mu jerked away; that was Rosy's cue. Mu raised a wall of stone between them and half of the catchers. He didn't have the time to raise another wall before he felt a gun pressed against his temple.

"Bad move, bend-" the catcher was cut off as a rock hit the base of her skull. Mu was nearly certain it had killed the woman. He would ask who had done that later but he had more important things to worry about. Though he was certain it had been Jen, from the exclamation of warning to him just before the catcher's death. He turned and shot the ground beneath a catcher high into the air. This threw the catcher away.

"Mu, duck!" Cais cried.

Mu was too slow and a bullet pierced the right side of his chest. He did his best to ignore it as he continued fighting the catchers. He had suffered worse injuries than that. He knocked out the last catcher. He looked down at his chest. He was bleeding more now that his pulse was racing.

"Rusty, Akio, catch him I think he's about to faint!" was the last thing Mu heard before his mind slipped into darkness.

* * *

><p>"We should be good to stop here. Jen, go fill this bottle with water from that stream," Cais commanded. They were in an area where there was already a thin dusting of snow, even though it was only fall. After Mu had passed out they ran as fast and far as they could. It was about two in the afternoon when they finally stopped. They had made it far away from the city.<p>

Mu's eyes drifted open slightly, "Where're we?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but we're much closer to the city than before," Cais assured.

"What happened?" Mu groaned in pain with each breath he took.

"You got shot," Cais said, "Okay, you know the drill. We're at least two days from the City and we don't want to risk leaving you with an open wound."

"You're gonna have to remove the bullet?" Mu asked.

"Yeah, sorry," Cais grimaced apologetically, "Alright, take off your shirt I don't want to get more blood on it."

Mu obeyed. He sat up and winced as he tugged his shirt off over his head and let it drop to the snow beside him. He laid back on the ground. The snow was icy cold against his back but he ignored it.

"You gonna have to stitch it up too?" Mu asked as he laid his back against the snow. It melted into his hair and sent shivers up his spine.

"Yeah, and we don't have pain killers," Cais winced at the thought.

"I've felt worse," Mu tried to shrug but yelped quietly.

"Alright, we can't have you screaming because we're still being tracked by catchers, so if you wouldn't mind biting this," Rusty explained as he positioned a cloth-wrapped stick between Mu's teeth.

Mu tested how hard he could bite down before it hurt his teeth.

Cais quietly took the knife from a small sheath on his belt and pulled a small flashlight from his backpack. He turned on the flashlight and held it carefully between his teeth so both of his hands were free to inspect the wound. It wasn't too deep but the bullet was still in the wound. He carefully cut the skin around the wound in a small 'X' shape. He carefully worked into the wound with the tip of the blade until it clinked against the bullet. He used the extra space created by the 'X' cuts to work the knife in beside to bullet. He finally managed to pop it up and out the wound.

Me was breathing hard through his nose as he bit the cloth-wrapped stick as hard his his jaws would allow. He moaned quietly in pain.

Jen had just returned with the bottle of clean water.

"Thank you," Cais took it, "Mu, I'm going to rinse the wound out. We're gonna roll you onto your side."

Mu nodded. He was barely keeping his eyes open at this point.

"Hey, idiot, stay awake," Ryoichi scolded as he noticed Mu closing his eyes.

Mu forced his eyes open. He glanced up at the pale haired young man who had scolded him.

Cais poured the water over the would. It drained out because Mu was laying on his side. After doing this a few times and dabbing at the gathering blood Cais rolled Mu back onto his back.

"I'm gonna stitch it up now," Cais warned. He already had the needle and suturing thread out.

_Think of everyone who have to go home to. You have to go home with all of these guys, Cais, Rusty, Rosy, Akio, Ryoichi, even Jen. You have Thyme, Reiki, Nobuhide, Blaze, Hien, Nick, TNT, Evans, Ibis, Hosei, James, Christy. You have all of them to go back to. Thyme, Reiki, and Blaze would never forgive me if I died. Nobu, TNT, Hien, and Christy would be crushed. Nick and Evans probably wouldn't care, but I'd miss them. The others would cry. They wouldn't want to cremate me or bury me or make me a grave marker, _Mu tried desperately to stay awake.

"Hey, stay with us Mu," Rusty lightly slapped his cheek in an attempt to keep Mu awake. Mu bit down harder on the stick to stifle a scream of pain as he was suddenly aware of the needle piercing through his skin.

Mu's fingers dug into the snow until he felt like his nails were all going to snap. He groaned in pain and tried to breathe steadily through his nose.

"There, we're done," Cais put away the needle. He would have to wash it later. He then carefully taped some soft fabric over the stitched area, "Mu, how are you doing?"

"I'm not sure who I hate most right now," he groaned quietly and smirked weakly. He didn't want to worry his team.

Cais laughed quietly in relief, "For once that's a good thing."

Mu's eyes began to drift closed again.

"Hey! Mu, just stay awake for a few more minutes, alright? I want to make sure you're really okay," Cais said.

"When are we gonna start heading towards the city again?" Mu asked.

"Soon," Cais assured.

* * *

><p>AN: Okay, yeah this chapter was brutal. I apologize. Thanks for reading, I appreciate reviews!


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